Eve Brown-Waite's Blog, page 10

Giggles from God by Deb Tiffany

My children are grappling with God these days, partly because they’re at that age, but largely because we just sent them to church camp for a week, NOT because I wanted to indoctrinate them but because:

a) it got them out of the house for three hours a day

b) it’s a good opportunity to learn some of the Bible stories, foundation of so much Western literature and art, and

c) they have to have something to reject when they turn eighteen.

Camp has had some interesting consequences, however. For start

I Love to Laugh, by Deb Meredith

I love funny books. Not ones that are archly funny, always examining whether or not they’re funny all the time, but ones that seem to effortlessly reveal a hilarious new angle on life. I enjoy David Sedaris (his description of taking French in Paris is the best) and Bill Bryson’s take on American culture. They often are laughing at themselves as much as the people around them. And I always try to inject a little humor in the mysteries that I write (mostly making fun of hipsters).

But the best

You probably had to be there, by Deb Katie

The problem with telling “LMAO” stories is that, 99.9% of the time, you had to be there. For instance, here are four incidents that had me crying with laughter:

* The time in college when my roommate, who sucked at swallowing pills, tried to swallow one and came running down the hall gagging on it. Employing my lightning-fast (though misguided) reflexes, I leapt from my desk into the hallway, where I proceeded to try to Heimlich her. At which point she spat a tiny pill across the hallway and crie

In which Deb Kristina gets her laughs any way she can

Once upon a time, I thought I was above a certain level of humor. Then my husband (then boyfriend) insisted I watch “Airplane!” I rolled my eyes at the dumb puns, wacky antics and over-the-top physical comedy. A giggle would try to sneak out sometimes, but I’d swallow it down. It was just so...dumb.

Then there was this one scene. A character is describing the deathbed speech of a guy named George Zip. It’s Leslie Nielsen speaking, and he intones, ever so seriously, “Win one…just one…for the Zippe

News Flash, June 21

Contest winner! Congratulations Joelle! You’ve won a signed copy of Real Life & Liars and a love note from the rest of the Debs. Thanks for the support!

Deb Meredith is pleased to announce that her second book in the Lydia McKenzie series (tentatively called DEAD IN THE WATER) will be published next year by St. Martin’s Minotaur. Also, she had a terrific review in the San Jose Mercury-News which called POSED FOR MURDER “clever, original and eminently readable”.

Deb Kristina visits several Michiga

In Which Deb Kristina Puts the FUN Back in Dysfunction by Deb Eve

Ya gotta love Mira Zielinski - the headstrong and (I thought) hilarious protagonist in REAL LIFE & LIARS. Unless, of course, you’re one of her children. Then maybe you hate her - but you still love her. Y’know how family is. Equal parts love and disdain. Full of love and full of angst. Faith that everything will work out fine and full of dread at all that could go wrong. Clinging to each other even as they are pushing each other away. Just your garden variety dysfunctional family: a safe place t

Real Questions About Real Life by Deb Tiffany

First of all, congratulations, Kris! Welcome to the shelf!

Real Life and Liars is timely summer reading. For me, the character of Katya really resonates. She’s armored and perfect on the outside, but she keeps everything inside of her. Her house, her car, even her engagement ring are “right,” but nothing with her is really okay, and in the course of the book she goes through a reckoning.

I think a lot of people are reassessing what’s important to them now, given the lovely state of the economy. I

The Exciting Debut of Real Life and Liars by Deb Meredith

At long last, our fifth and final debut of the year–Kristina Riggle’s book REAL LIFE AND LIARS. The title reminds me of that old joke about the liar who says he lies about everything. But if he lies about everything, isn’t that statement also a lie? Families often lie to one another, and the family Kristina creates her book is no exception.

REAL LIFE AND LIARS is a big family drama of a book with three generations of a family packed into a house for an anniversary party. The book is full of q

Blast off! (and other metaphors for family), by Deb Katie

A huge and hearty congratulations to my sister Debutante Kristina Riggle on the debut of her novel, Real Life & Liars. Our fifth debut! Who would have thought the day would come so quickly?

What struck me, reading Kristina’s book, is how the family members are both connected and disconnected. They know each other well enough to make predictions based on past behavior, but they’re disconnected enough from one another in the present that those predictions are often wrong.

It really hit home for me.

In which Deb Kristina is last, but not least

So, my book debuts tomorrow. In a way, I never thought this day would come, similar to how I felt when I was eight days overdue to deliver my second baby. They tell you the baby can’t graduate from college in there, but delusional with hormones, stress and discomfort, it’s hard to believe you’ll get to the other side.

But, just like I finally managed to get that baby out of there (she’s doing fine out in the world, despite her reluctance to ever leave my womb), Real Life & Liars is out now, too.